Anyone heard or own Klipsch RF7 ?


I heard the RF7's briefly today and was blown away by the HUGE soundstage. I predicted them to be a little harsh and I was right. To defend the speaker the cabling looked a little average and they were being run with an average integrated amp which I won't mention to avoid conflict. Also I like to audition some harsh sounding CD's as some speakers deal with them better. All in all IMO they were decent for the price being they are discontinued and being "blown out". I've read about a crossover upgrade that is supposed to transform these speakers into a whole new animal. Has anyone had this done, if so how much was it? My other question is has anyone had any real success EQing the unwanted frequencies out while not totally altering the signal? An MC352 will run them.

Thanks again !!!
nuguy
He didn't have the RF63 in at the time, he will get them in by mid May and I will head back up there and scope it out. I want to compare it to the RF62.... For $800 it is a steal!
Last weekend, I listend to a pair of Klipsch RF62 and RF82 that was being played by DENON AVR 4308ci and I brought my wife with me! We were both surprise on the sound quality - you really can't beat it with the price - I used to own a pair of Klipsch Forte II for nearly 16 years! I'm a big fan of Klipsch myself.... Likely I will end up purchasing the RF62 in the next few months...

Good Luck!
I've owned the full 5-channel set for 3 years. A digital room analizer miked through my processor helped set-up very much. Many experienced high end audiophiles in editor positions swear by digital room acoustic and speaker analizers. This feature on my Yamaha equalizes the frequency's, volumes, distances, etc. separately for all five speakers.

Moving the calibration mike slightly and rerunning the set-up eventually hits the perfect calibration to flatten out all five Klipsch speakers together. In two-channel or other music settings (PL II, DTS, direct stereo, straight, multi-channel), the RF-7's sound very balanced.

For mid-bass punch, I added two HSU MBM-12's in stereo. Why? Simply extra mid-bass authority. Looking at all the equipment on a live stage, it really makes sense to have similiar speakers for reproduction. I have one MBM-12 next to my favorite seated location and adjust the punch and crossover when lisening to certain songs on the RF-7's. It's very nice. They are adjustable from 50-150 Hz and have 350 watt built-in amps. Up close, they add alot to nearly any set-up. See Craigsublist or HSU's site.

The MBM's run off the RF-7'speaker leads with a REL Storm II musical subwoofer. The front RF-7's, MBM's and REL all get the same "amplifier signatures" for sound reproduction.

For HT, my separate thumper sub takes its' "Q" from the SLE output.

I taped a very thin piece of dampening foam material over the RF-7 horns to soften them slightly and replaced the grills. I read about this in a recording engineers reference, and it works well. When I had them spread out further, they sounded great without the dampening. Now, they're in a 16 foot equalateral triangle with the main seating. They're huge for a 16 foot triangle and sound great!

The RF-7's bass is best when placed in corners or next to large furnature because they're rear-ported. More bass can be brought out in any placement through the individual crossover volume controls (manually) inside the Yamaha's processor after a automatic digital set-up.

With the right room placement and calibration, they sound very balanced, linear and smooth. I don't have to say a word of introduction - visitor's usually stop when the sound envelopes them and make very positive comments.

These speakers can play elegently at very low volumes - piano and floor bass, acoustics, etc. At "speed" like live concerts, they can sound truely "live" and clean. I play piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitars and basses. I prefer RF-7 sound reproduction to a stuffy "living room" parlour sound. There is a big difference. Parlour speakers sound too tame for my preferences.

I've listened to live performances (the best way to develop a critical ear) and listen to the same type of recorded performance on parlour speakers. Critically, I follow each instrument and voice carefully and as a group. Parlour speakers sound stuffy or closed-in to me. I like the clearer and leaner sound of RF-7's. They sound brand new today. I can't speak for any other Klipsch lines. Technical suport has been good.

I'm sure many other speakers sound great, too. Set-up is critical. I have mine set-up and adjusted correctly for my room acoustics and musical/HT tastes. I went with a REL Storm II sub because of its' accurate musical reproduction.

Hope this helps someone.
I own RF-7's and they are one of the best speakers I own among many speakers, including older Klipsch Heritage.
The RF-7's have a huge soundstage (if your amp allows it) and great imaging, very clean and revealing due to the metals used. I'm in awe of them every time I sit down and listen to them. Great speakers!
Yes but I can't tell you what I think they could be unbeilvably good and the most magical and musical speaker or screetching nightmare excuses for what Klipsch used to be. If you aren't always positive in these forums then you suffer the slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune.
I've heard them and was not impressed. I'm surprised you said they had a huge soundstage. The one's I heard sounded like the music was meshed together between the two speakers with no depth what so ever.

As the previous poster mentioned, their sound is very unbalanced with an extremely exagerated mid-range. They were hard sounding and the bass was flabby. For this kind of money you can easily do better IMO.

BTW, I'm actually a Klipsch fan. But, the one's I like are their Heritage series with some warm souding equipment or tubes. Their lower end has nothing in common with these. If I were you I would look used at some Cornwall II's or a LaScalla's, if you have the room. If not, then some Chorus or Forte's.
I have a pair of RF7s that I run as my surrounds in my HT setup. I did use them for a while as my main speakers and concur that they're a decent speaker for the money if your preference is a detailed top end. They're dynamic and excel with rock music (as I'm sure you've already read). I found them to be a little light in the bass, but that may be due to the horn tweeter imbalance to the top end. I'd be curious if the crossover mod directly addresses that (check out posts on the Klipsch board for the crossover mod details and comparisons). I used all Cardas cabling and that helped, to a degree, with the high frequencies and perceived harshness. I'd certainly stay away from any cabling with silver content. I think you're on the right track with the Mac amp - despite the high efficiency rating, these speakers sound better with a higher current amp and the Mac/Klipsch pairing comes highly recommended among many Klipsch owners. No experience in using an EQ with these speakers.
They are a lot of speaker if found around 1300.00 or so a pair, I had them for my 30 day trial and ultimatly they were very imbalanced in the horn overtaking any low frequencys, so yes were slightly brittle, or forward, or bright whatever audio nomenclature you prefer, especially in my room situation, If Equed' can be very good, but absolutly will need low end boost if nothing else in most scenario's... I found Higher power was not necessarily the overall Key to these speakers as many seem to push, even though they are of hi-efficiency(yes should run fine on 20 watts) but I suggest a resonable hi-current Amp, nothing to do with wattage, cause those 10's need some good control and decent push. A lot of speaker and potential for the money if found on a great deal. Or stay with tubes all together on them, so I think actually you have the BEST amp for the job, cause the mcintosh seem to always make klipsch perform better than other amps. Your mac might take away the apparent "Thin" sound of the speaker by adding some body too. You should maybe just take the amp to where you heard them and hook it up, I know a bit of a hassel with a super heavy amp like that but at least you can get an idea if you really feel the potential for the flavor you want.